'Bike Boulevard,' New Traffic Pattern Headed To South Slope

PARK SLOPE, BROOKLYN — One of the city's mysterious "bike boulevards" and other traffic upgrades will soon be installed on 20th and 21st street in South Slope, according to the Department of Transportation.

Transportation officials are preparing to install a "bike boulevard" design — aimed at making it easier for cyclists and pedestrians to use the road — on 21st as part of a plan to improve traffic and safety conditions in the blocks surrounding the north side of Green-Wood Cemetery.

The plan also includes adding bike lanes to 20th Street, 19th Street and a stretch of 10th Avenue, according to plans. 20th Street will be made one-way to avoid safety problems with trucks using the narrow road, plans show.

The city will begin installing the street upgrades on Friday, according to an announcement from City Council District 39.

Brooklyn's 21st Street is one of five roadways across the city that will get a bike boulevard, the first of their kind in New York City. Mayor Bill de Blasio first announced the boulevard idea during his annual "Street Week!" initiative as a way to slow the speed and volume of cars on the street to make it safer for cyclists and pedestrians.

Little details existed about the boulevards until earlier this summer, when DOT began presenting their designs to local community boards.

In South Slope, the boulevard will mean extending the curbs at intersections to slow down cars turning onto the road and adding signs on and around the street about its designation as a bike boulevard.

Traffic is already limited on 21st Street thanks to its designation as an Open Street during the coronavirus pandemic, which bans cars during certain hours to allow pedestrians and cyclists to use the road.

The bike boulevard design will also mean adding "mini roundabouts" to several intersections along Sixth Avenue to calm traffic to and from the bike route.

The roundabout at the 21st Street intersection will have cars turn right onto Sixth Avenue while cyclists can continue straight, according to DOT.

The other new bike paths in the plan include a protected two-way lane on 10th Avenue between 19th and 20th streets, a conventional bike lane on 19th Street from 10th to 11th avenues and a two-way "shared use path" on 20th Street from Seventh to 10th avenues, plans show.

Officials hope the lanes will help connect the cycling network in Prospect Park to the future cycling path known as the Brooklyn Greenway, which will eventually extend 26 miles along Brooklyn's waterfront. The Red Hook to Bay Ridge portion of the Greenway has not yet been installed.

The bike path on 20th Street will be made possible by making the road a one-way street.

Transportation officials found that 60 to 75 percent of the traffic on the street heads west given its access to ramps to the Prospect Expressway, according to a study.

The current two-way design was also causing safety problems given that trucks and cars could barely both fit on the narrow road, leading to frequent side-swipes, according to DOT.

A presentation about all the new street upgrades can be found here.

The changes are also listed in these flyers from DOT: